1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a novel clarinet support for attachment to a conventional clarinet and the user's wrist such that support for the weight of the instrument is transferred from the thumb to the fleshy part of the upper hand and wrist area.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The conventional B-flat clarinet includes the major components of a mouthpiece, a barrel, an upper joint with keys, a lower joint with keys and a bell, where the sound emanates from. The lower joint usually includes a thumb rest. The thumb rest, rests on the thumb and is the usual manner in which the weight of the clarinet is supported and which ultimately affects one's ability to play relaxed.
A difficulty experienced by clarinet musicians is that over an extended playing interval, the thumb bears a major part of the clarinet's weight. When the thumb muscles tire it becomes increasingly difficult to either hold the instrument in its correct position or not to experience fatigue in other hand muscles, which ultimately affects one's ability to play well.
The problem of ensuring that the clarinet is correctly held was thoroughly discussed by Schmidt in U.S. Pat. No. 3,192,816. The Schmidt device was comprised of a stiff member or beam which when attached to the clarinet at its mid-section was used to brace the clarinet against the chest of the musician. Although the Schmidt invention may have transferred some the weight of the clarinet to the beam it did not adequately address the primary forces which are downward along a line generally parallel to the musicians body. Furthermore, the main object served by U.S. Pat. No. 3,192,817 was positioning and not weight transfer.